Mobilising Armies was a members-only real-time strategy minigame released on 8 July2009. During the game, players organised armies, then commanded those armies in two or four-player battles.

The Army Recruitment and Mobilisation Society (A.R.M.S.) provided squads and special units for battle and exploration. Players needed "investment credits" to buy contracts with these squads and special units, which were bought with certain tradeable items; many items were accepted, and there was a bank at the command centre. Most of the points were used as a stake in the game, while some were used to buy units for the armies. The game rewarded players (winners or losers) with ranking points (more for winners) and reward points, based on the level of success and the players total ranking points. Those could be redeemed for various in-world rewards, the choice again dependent on the players total ranking points.

Introduction

To start this game, players need to talk to Junior Cadet Mal who is located near the entrance of the game. Players will then be taken through a tutorial where they will have to attack and defeat the enemy. Upon completing the tutorial, players can begin Mobilising Armies.

How to play

First, players will need to recruit mercenary squads. This can be done in the South-Western building. A minimum of 10 squads are needed in order to begin the game. A maximum of 10 squad contracts can be held at any one time.

Players may also wish to buy special units. These are located in the North-Eastern tent. Players can buy up to five special units.

After getting a minimum of 10 squads, go to the Briefing room entrance in the middle of the southern area.

Select 1 out of 4 scenarios: Conflict, Siege, Hoard, or Rescue. In the beginning, only the Conflict scenario is unlocked. The others will be unlocked when you play the previous game (e.g. Siege requires you to play a game of Conflict, Hoard requires you to play a game of Siege, and Rescue requires you to play a game of Hoard). The next screen is the Scenario Investment Options. Here, you select how much you can be rewarded.

Once playing, the tabs will change accordingly, each having different purposes.

Camera: Camera controls. All controls have exactly the same function as their counterparts on the HUD.

Squad Command: Available actions of a squad for the scenario and the action the selected squad is currently performing. All displayed actions can also be executed by clicking certain terrain, units and building.

Special Units: Special unit deploy commands.

My Squads: View all squads. Crossed-out squads are squads that have been defeated; the colour of the cross is dependent on which team defeated the squad. Clicking the head graphic will centre the camera on the squad and select it, providing it is still active in the scenario.

Forfeit: Forfeit function.

Gameplay

One of the ships used by ARMS.

Controlling squads

The player's squads are all near each other when the game starts. Clicking on one of a player's own squads selects that squad, which will move, explore, or attack based on the player's commands. Only the selected squad will do anything, so players should select other squads and give commands to them. The minimap shows the location of the selected squad with a flashing arrow.

Moving

To move a selected squad, players can either click the destination on the minimap and the squad will walk there, or click anywhere on the main screen. If the destination is on another squad on the same team, click the Move button to the side and then click where to go. Note: a squad takes up four squares. The squads' lower left corner will always move to the map tile clicked.

Attacking

A player can attack an enemy unit by clicking on it while one of his/her own squads is selected. Manually attacking an enemy unit can be done by selecting an option from the Squad Commands tab. Multiple squads should be used to engage a single enemy squad.

Mobilising Armies follows the classic combat triangle. Dwarves use Melee, Goblins use Ranged and Elves use Magic. This means that Dwarves are more effective against Goblins, which in turn are more effective against Elves.

In all the scenarios there are patches of special terrain. While on this terrain, squads will deal additional damage. There are three different appearances for this terrain: light and dark sand, leaves, and felled trees. All special terrain is a 2x2 tile. Similar damage bonuses are also active for the first strike a squad makes against another squad and while a squad is attacking another squad from behind.

Attack the enemy from the side or behind yields the possibility to be more likely to damage an enemy. Formations may also affect the effectiveness of the attack.

Exploring

Clicking on the Explore button to the side will make the selected squad wander around, exploring for treasure. The treasure may be an item such as willow logs or tin ore, depending on which race is exploring, or it could be a positive (shown on the chat screen as POS) effects such as gaining health or negative (shown as NEG) effects such as losing combat levels. Only Dwarves may find ores, only Goblins can find seeds and only Elves can find logs. It is thought that having a higher rank allows you to find better treasure. Exploring does not count towards the 10 commands needed for a reward at the end.

Camera

A castle built by a treacherous white knight.

Since the player's character itself is not in the game, the camera has no point of focus. There are three ways to operate the camera.

With the arrow keys, the camera can be panned in the desired direction. To rotate it, hold the Ctrl key on the keyboard and press the left and right arrow keys. To zoom in and out, hold Shift and the press the up key to zoom in and the down key to zoom out.

A duplicate of these functions can be found on the top left of the HUD and in Camera options in the tabs menu.

Squads

Squad classes

Squads can be either light or heavy. Light squads are faster with lower combat stats. Heavy squads are slower with higher combat stats. A feather represents a Light squad while a weight represents a Heavy squad.

Light class

Light units move much faster than their Heavy counterparts, but are a lot weaker in terms of combat. Light units are most useful in the Siege and Rescue scenarios, when speed is essential for completing the objective. By sending Light units to explore in the Conflict scenario, they can evade the more common Heavy units for a long period of time, allowing the player to accumulate a large amount of points by exploiting the time bonus gained for surviving long periods of time.

Heavy class

Heavy units are stronger than the light units, but sacrifice speed for the increased power. These units are most effective for the "Conflict" and "Hoard" scenarios, but are less effective in the "Rescue" Scenario when Light units will be continually moving.

Squad races

Squads comprise Goblins, Elves, or Dwarves. They have different speeds and life points and represent different sides of the combat triangle. All squads cost 100 investment credits to recruit. You must have 10 squads (of any race) to start a game.

Elf

Elves are the mage class. If you follow the combat triangle, Elves are weak against Goblins (range class) but strong against Dwarves (melee class). Light Elves have a combat level of 225, a constitution level of 4,800 and a discipline level of 60. The Heavy Elves have a combat level of 350, 9,600 life points and a discipline level of 110. Light Elves wear lavender robes and wield different elemental staves. The Heavy Elves also wield the basic elemental staves but wear a dark blue shaded robe. The Examine info on both squads say "An uncommon sight, mercenary elves are familiar with battle". While exploring, they find logs and white berries.

Dwarf

Dwarves are the melee class. If you follow the combat triangle, Dwarves are weak against Elves (mage class) but strong against Goblins (range class). Light Dwarves have a combat level of 175, a constitution level of 5300 and a discipline level of 60. Heavy Dwarves have a combat level of 410, 10,100 life points and a discipline level of 60. Light Dwarves are garbed in a grey dwarf outfit and wield a silver battleaxe, and Heavy Dwarves wear a brown dwarf outfit carrying a black battleaxe with silver blades. They find ore, gems and coins while exploring.

Goblin

Goblins are the range class. If you follow the combat triangle, Goblins are weak against Dwarves (melee class) but strong against Elves (mage class). Light Goblins have a combat level of 175, a constitution level of 4800 and a discipline level of 110 while Heavy Goblins have a combat level of 460, 9,600 life points and a discipline level of 60. Light Goblins wear grey Goblin mail and wield iron crossbows. Heavy Goblins are equipped with a dark brown goblin mail, but also appear to use iron crossbows. They pick up coins and various items while exploring.

Squad formations

There are a total of 9 formations available. You can change your squad formation at the Scenario Options screen before going into a lobby. There are nine formations in total, each unlocking as you increase your Rank. It is often worth changing your formation according to your style of play, the scenario, or what you fancy at the time.

Name

Layout

Requirement

Wedge

Squads are assembled in a pyramid, each row having one more squad than the last.

None

Wall

Squads are assembled in a single straight line.

None

Flank

Squads are assembled in two parallel lines, perpendicular to the shore.

None

Eager

Squads are assembled in two parallel lines, four squads in the front line, six in the back, parallel to the shore.

Rank 51

Spread

Eight of the squads are assembled in a box, the two remaining squads inside the box.

Rank 101

Lefty

Eight of the squads are assembled in an L shape, the two remaining squads rest on the inside corner against the long side of the L. The short side of the L is parallel to the shore. Entire formation is left of the Command Tent.

Rank 201

Righty

Eight of the squads are assembled in a reverse-L shape, the two remaining squads rest on the inside corner against the long side of the L. The short side of the L is parallel to the shore. Entire formation is right of the Command Tent.

Rank 201

Block

Nine of the squads are assembled in a 3x3 box with the remaining squad in the back.

Rank 301

Grid

Four of the squads are assembled in the front, three in the middle, and three in the back spaced out.

Rank 401

Game types

Conflict

This is the standard, "free-for-all" scenario for the game. It's the first to be played by all and it's the "lowest levelled" scenario. Two teams are placed on a battlefield and must kill each other off.

Siege

The Siege Scenario is unlocked after playing through a game of Conflict. In this Scenario, a rogue knight, exiled for treason against the King of Asgarnia, has constructed a heavily fortified castle on an island in the south seas. Unlike Conflict, defeating all enemy squads is a secondary objective; the primary objective is to be the first to break one of four castle walls in the centre of the island. This can be done in one of two ways: attacking the wall directly with squads, which causes damage from the mages stationed on the castle towers, or building a catapult with supplies found on shipwrecks and firing rocks. The winner is the first to break down one of the castle's walls. A little trick is to get four squads making the catapult and collecting rocks while the other six attack it directly, this is currently one of the fastest methods.

Hoard

The Hoard Scenario is unlocked after playing through a game of Siege. In this Scenario, a volcanic isle that is home to a Sleeping Dragon and its large treasure has been discovered. The primary objective in this scenario is to steal 100,000 units of gold. Gold can be obtained in two ways: collecting it from the four caves around the island, or defeating enemy squads that are collecting it. The first player to collect 100,000 units of gold is the winner. An alternative way to win is to defeat all enemy squads. This may be a possible reference to Jagex's FunOrb game Dungeon Assault.

Rescue

The Rescue Scenario is unlocked after playing through a game of Hoard. In this Scenario, a colony of Tzhaar has been discovered on a geologically unstable island. The primary objective of this scenario is to save 28 Tzhaar from the fissures of the island. Players may also steal Tzhaar from other players' landers. The first player to have 28 Tzhaar in their lander wins. An alternative way to win is to defeat all other squads.

Chat

During the game, players are not able to chat freely, as the game spans much more than the normal chat radius. It is not known whether this will be updated, as the chat system was overhauled with the Dungeoneering skill, allowing a much a larger radius in an instanced area. However, players are able to use Mobilising armies themed phrases.

The phrases are:

Good luck everyone.

Well played.

This will all be over soon.

Fear my elves/goblins/dwarves!

Prepare for annihilation!

For this scenario I've invested...

I'm of Rank...

All your squads are belong to me!

This is a long battle.

Yes!

Run away!

Noooo!

I've almost won!

I'm about to be defeated.

This is my favourite scenario.

This is my least favourite scenario.

That was so close!

I'm comin' ta getcha!

However, it is worth noting that nothing stops the player from chatting freely through private, friends, or clan chats.

Ranking points

A game is won once an objective is completed. Defeating all enemy squads is always an objective. The winning player receives +2 rank, any player that did not forfeit the game receives +1 rank. In the event that time runs out, all players receive +1 rank.

Players need to do at least 10 actions (not walking or exploring) to get their ranks. The game must last at least 3 minutes for you to get any ranks (the in-game timer must reach 26 minutes remaining). The in-game timer displays the minutes remaining rounded up meaning when "26 mins" is displayed 3 minutes and at least 1 second has passed since the game started. A maximum of 12 ranks can be gained per hour; any excess rank points earned will not be included, instead being replaced with a message saying "You need to wait a maximum of X minutes before you can gain more rank".

Trivia

The ElvenCadet Finda is onto a conspiracy and believes she has found "the source". Of what no one is sure.

The Quick Chat phrase "All your squads are belong to me!" is a reference to a popular Internet meme, "All your base are belong to us!", taken from the text from the opening cut scene of the 1991 European Sega Mega Drive version of the video game Zero Wing.

The RuneScape home page was in the Mobilising Armies style until Halloween 2009, the longest duration of a themed home page.

The reward house seems to be always in a mode that you can see the inside of it, but you can never see the outside. Only the walls on the ground floor and below it are visible from the outside.

On 18 August2009, an update changed how Mobilising Armies operated by removing squad levels. This in-turn removed 16 of the 20 waiting rooms and those NPCs that were operators for those rooms, levels 2 through 5.